Developer: Milestone
Publisher: Milestone
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Tested on: PS4
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 3 – Review
When a series sees a new game released each year, it will reach its peak sooner or later. The moment that happens, it mostly goes downhill after that. This is why some developers or even movie makers decide to stop the series in favor of ending on good terms. With the previous two Monster Energy Supercross games being quite decent, it seemed that the franchise peaked at number two. In excitement, many people awaited how further improved the third installment would be, but sadly enough it seemed that quality had gone downhill.
Story
Normally in Motocross games, you have a story about working your way up into the sports world. While these stories only served little purpose, it’s still a missed opportunity to have no story at all in this title. In the beginning, you simply create a character, choose a bike and race for sponsors, but that is as far as character progression goes. The player development seen in the last game has disappeared, making the career mode a rather boring series of races with nothing to motivate the player to keep going. You will switch sponsors here and there, and will later unlock a more powerful class, but nothing to string the events together. If you love arcade games where you can instantly drop into the gameplay without boring conversations, then you will find yourself in this mute setting.
Graphics
In general, it seems that there have been many budget cuts while creating Monster Energy Supercross 3. Supercross 2 might not have had the best graphics of the lot, its attention to detail made up for its shortcomings. In this year’s version, something seems terribly wrong as the graphics are very bland and although you are forced to set up the HDR graphics for the game, the quality is far from High Definition. There is barely any attention to detail when it comes to dirt. Normally this flies around and sticks to everything, yet we see nothing of the sort. Colors are rather bland and boring and although there is character customization and there are a lot of brands available, you cannot modify your bikes anymore like in Supercross 2.
Sound
It seems that the budget for this game all went into its soundtrack. Some famous artists have worked on it to create the music that plays while racing. While this fancier music seems nice to have, it does not really fit the motocross scene. Stereotypically you would want some spicy rock or metal blaring through the speakers, not 2020 hipster music. The other disappointment is how the sound effects are brought. Normally, when playing anything bike-related you expect loud two-stroke engines and deep howls of an open four-stroke exhaust. In Supercross 3 all the bikes sound the same, even in different classes, and they remind us of mowing the lawn at grandma’s house in the summer.
Gameplay
Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 3 is a motorcycle racing game where you must maneuver your bike on tricky courses around the USA. Motocross games have come a long way from simple, yet extremely fun racing games to realistic simulators where you must control your body to slide through the tight corners. This is where the first problem arises in this game. When titles become more realistic, it creates a gap between new players and simulator lovers. To fill this gap, the developers will create all sorts of aides to help the beginners have a competitive edge when playing the game. Unfortunately, these don’t seem to work while racing. You can activate various racing assists to improve handling such as automatic weight shifting, combined brakes and transmission. However, only the transmission option seems to make a difference. You will still have to learn to perfect the jumps and with the indicator being static (i.e., it only shows the jumps, not the speeds), this could slow you down significantly. Other games will let you know if you need to slow down or speed up in order to hit the jump at the right speed. Comparing with the Ride franchise, where weight shifting is essential to become the fastest, in Supercross 3, however, just pulling the rear brake seems enough to get you through the corners but those hills are a different story. Having to perfectly time your jumps and adjust speed to fly over and hit them just right, is far from easy.
The game only has a few modes, a career where you just race a bit on, some single- and multi-player modes and compound that serves as a free ride and some editors. The career mode was pretty spectacular in Supercross 2, as you needed to develop your character by training and attending PR events in order to keep your sponsors happy and earn more money. In this game, all of these extras seem deleted and will make the career mode a pretty boring but straightforward experience. For some, this approach is better, but as the previous game brought it in such a great way, this feature is greatly missed. The career mode made the connection stronger with your own created character, yet if you don’t like to be your own persona, then you will be happy to hear that some sponsors fix you an outfit and a customized bike to ride on. Customization has also been toned done from the previous version, yet many brands still remain to give your character some fresh gear.
Racing is done in two classes, the starting 250cc and the slightly quicker 450cc. The first allows for more control while being stable, yet an unsuspecting driver can end up in the ditch quite quickly. The latter feels fast and also nimble, but allows no room for error, as each slight misstep will make you bite the dust. The overall handling of both bikes is nothing to write home about and controlling the game is quite difficult. Even when activating the driving assists for newer players, they don’t seem to work properly. The driving engine feels like it’s taken from a game that is decades old. Overall handling goes very roughly and isn’t enjoyable at all. Bikes handle like bricks and even when mastering the manipulation of both body and bike, you still will make mistakes that will have you pulling out your hair.
Matches can be quite hectic, as many racers are on the track at the same time. This leads to many crashes, pile-ups and an overall high body-count. Ever since games have become more realistic, they became much harder, yet most of the time you can feel it when losing grip and a crash is imminent. In Supercross 3, however, some crashes just feel like they are randomly generated and a twelve-year-old could ride his bicycle better than you.
Conclusion
The previous Monster Energy Supercross games have set the bar high for the newest title in the series. Sadly, this year’s version underperforms in many aspects. The absence of decent story progression, fewer customization options and the poorly handled driving assists and controls make the game quite underwhelming. Add to that the unfitting soundtrack, and you’ll be left wanting more. If you want the good Supercross experience, then it is advised to pick up the previous game.
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